The secret to a successful design project, no matter how big or small, is the plan behind that design. By making a plan for your next design project you give yourself the power over the ins and outs of the design process.

You don’t have to be a certified project manager, architect or an interior designer to have and be able to stick to a plan when it comes to redoing your space.

Keep on reading and you will tell you why you need a plan for your next design project, and where to start when putting it together.

PROJECT PLAN

First we need to be clear on what we are planning to get done for our next design project. Are you going to tackle your bedroom? Kid’s room? Living room? Home Office? Do you want to completely redo the room or is a simple paint job and change of bedding do?

These are the types of questions that you need to ask yourself on this phase of the planning. If you are planning on redoing more than one room at once I would put together a plan for each space.

This step is key so that you don’t go overboard with the spending, planning, or research you need to do to redo a space, it will help keep you focused on the things you actually want to do.

BUDGET PLAN

How much do you have to spend? Can you afford to do the complete project all at once or will you have to tackle it in stages?

Being unclear on how much you have to spend can result in poor decisions being made that can delay completion of your project; can make an unplanned dent on your finances; and could even put you and your family in unwanted debt.

Every time I meet with a client and we are starting to talk about a project they want to tackle one of the questions that comes up in that first meeting is “Do you have a budget in mind?”. If they don’t I ask them to think about it and get back to me so that we can then proceed.

The answer to this question has huge impacts on the design I’m able to put together, on the options we have available, and can even help me prioritize activities if needed.

I’ve put together a budget checklist that you are free to download by clicking the button below, it lists out all of the main categories that a project could have so that you are able to check that you have thought of everything when putting together your budget plan.

Keep it close by when working on that big idea for your space so that you are sure that you are really able to get that space redesign the way you want it and for the price you want.

SPACE PLAN

Having the perfect space layout has a huge impact on a room: it affects the way the room is lived, the way the room feels, the way the room looks, and the way the room works.

You don’t have to be an architect to put together a space plan for your room, but you should play around with furniture placement and you must measure everything twice.

The tape measure needs to become your best friend, carry it with you everywhere, you never know where you´ll see the perfect sofa or entertainment center and you want to be able to take every measurement possible to double check that you have no problem incorporating it into your space.

SOURCING PLAN

Sourcing for a design project isn’t as easy as just finding items and purchasing them, believe me it’s a lot more complex.

You need to have a plan, not only so that you can make sure you are buying from the best source with the best price but also a plan that takes into consideration shipping times and labor costs.

So many clients have told me that when they were putting together a previous room they never took into consideration labor costs and the project ended up costing a lot more than they had planned. Don’t let this happen to you.

Make sure to check prices available from different vendors, suppliers, and contractors. Compare all the info so that you are able to take the educated decision that will work best for your project.

READY TO START PLANNING?

I really hope you have been able to really understand how making a plan AND actually working with it can have a huge impact on the outcome of your design project.

Remember to download the Budget Checklist that I put together for you so that you can work with it when putting together your budget, this way you will make sure that nothing is left unplanned for.